Vortex
by jacefacexx
Summary: AKUROKU AU At night, while hanging with his friends, a swirling mass of smoke and color bursts open in their backyard. No one knows what it is or where it leads. Roxas wants to know. And he finds out not in the way he was expecting.


Yeah... I know you guys were probably expecting Hot In Here, which NEVER FEAR, I am in the process of working on it (half-way through actually), but this had just been sitting around collecting dust. So here's a cookie for you :D

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

_Emphasized Words i.e. sounds_

Music that helped me out writing this would be **Only One **by**Yellowcard**, **Death Cab for Cutie**, **Open My Eyes** by **Buckcherry**, **Beautiful** by **10 Years**, and **Relient K** were real helps, not to mention **The Hush Sound** too! Amazing bands that helped keep me in it and focused to a point. Thank you!!

**DISCLAIMER: I no own, you no sue. Idea is mine, plot is mine, Roxas and Axel are NOT mine. THIS story has AKUROKU in it, outside of it, and ALLLLL around it! WHICH means yaoi, WHICH is boyXboy love, WHICH means that if you so much as try to light this story on fire with your flames, so help me Christ Cakes, I KNOW where you live and I've SEEN where you sleep and your mothers will CRY when they find out what I've done to you XO**

_**On with the story...**_

Roxas Masters always thought there was something missing in his life. Some grand adventure he thought he was missing out on. He felt like something just hadn't fallen into place yet. Roxas wanted to see the world; he wanted to experience things he never thought he'd be able to. Little did he know, that was just what was going to happen. But nothing like he planned, what he had dreamed of, could have prepared him for this.

It was just another regular night, typical for Roxas and his friends. They were at Roxas' house, playing video games, throwing stuff at each other; their classic guy night. Sora, Roxas' twin brother, was the one who could be found with the two liter jug of pop, chattering excitedly, showing everyone what a true sugar high looked like. And for them to all be afraid, very afraid.

Roxas was the basic, average guy. Five foot five, short spiky blond hair, and a pair of stunning blue eyes, or at least that was what his mom always said. Sora was mostly the same. Though he had longer, somewhat spikier brown hair. And their eyes were nearly the same color as well, Sora's being a bit lighter blue. Personality wise, Roxas was a little more reserved, Sora was bouncing with energy and able to befriend anyone who took the time to glance at him.

Tonight Tidus, Wakka, Hayner, Pence, and Riku were all gathered at their house. It was time to celebrate. There was one more week of school before summer vacation, and then they would all be seniors, except for Riku. Riku had graduated the past year and was attending the nearby Destiny Islands Community College, majoring in Biology. The silveret had told his friends he couldn't bear to leave them, so he stuck around with them as often as he was able to, making sure he was still a part in their lives.

Roxas smiled and laughed as Hayner threw a pillow at Sora, successfully thumping his head. Sora shrieked and grabbed the pillow he was sitting on, whipping it across the room, and hitting unsuspecting Pence in the chest. Pence smirked, which Hayner copied. They let out dual war cries suddenly and grabbed any pillows they could find, chucking them as soon as they had a grip on them. Riku laughed as he rolled under the coffee table, video game controller still in his hands, and continued playing his game with a smirk apparent on his face.

The blond ducked as someone, he wasn't sure who because the living room was in chaos, chucked a pillow at him, he hid behind the couch for shelter. There was about five feet, roughly a yard and a half, of space between the couch and the wall behind it. Looking in front of him, there was about a ten-foot dash. Roxas would have to run like his life depended on it if he wanted to make it into the kitchen and be safe from the pillows.

He smirked.

Roxas set himself into the sprinters stance, and that was when he noticed something was wrong. The living room was suddenly thrown into a dead silence. Peering out from behind the couch, he noticed they were all frozen in what they were doing, and that they were all staring intently out the window and into the backyard.

"Guys?" Roxas called to them, only Sora perking up and looking at his twin. Confusion and traces of fear were written on Sora's face. "What's going on?" Sora only shrugged and pointed out the window. Riku was the first to snap to his senses.

"Let's go check it out," he said calmly, already heading to the back door. Riku stopped at the doorway though, looking back to everyone else. Hayner and everyone else looked at Riku as if he'd grown a second head.

"Are you crazy?" Hayner asked seriously.

"We don't even know what it is, or what it could be!" Pence argued. Tidus and Wakka looked at each other, unsure whether they wanted to go out and see what it was or not. Riku took what they said in for a moment, and then looked at Sora.

Sora met his gaze evenly, eyes clearly saying that he didn't want to go anywhere near it. Whatever _it _was. Riku sighed and Roxas knew that Sora had won.

You see, as long as Roxas could remember where ever Sora was, Riku would be there too. They were like ying and yang, day and night, light and dark. They were so different, yet they complimented the other perfectly. And Roxas knew that they both had feelings for the other that was more than just friendship, but they had never told the other that.

But they both had confided in Roxas, and he hadn't let them down. Sora couldn't quite explain exactly what he felt for Riku, but it was obvious he loved him. Like a friend or not, it was the same as what Riku felt for him, something he didn't know about. Riku was a bit… bolder with his feelings for Sora when he talked to Roxas. He had told Roxas that ever since they were little he knew that there was something different about Sora that drew him in, that made him feel right, and whole. And Riku had said he couldn't afford to lose that.

Roxas was happy for them. That they had found someone that made them feel, well, he wasn't sure exactly how they felt because he never felt love like that before. He wasn't against them being gay, because they both had openly admitted they were, much to the disappointment of the girls at their school. It seemed to be only a matter of time before they got together.

Getting back to everything, Riku would do whatever Sora decided. So he stayed put in the living room, still watching Sora intently.

"Well I'm going out there then."

Everyone whipped their heads to look at Roxas. He was standing straight up, confident, with a curious look on his face. He walked over to Riku, and everyone followed his movements with their eyes.

"I want to know what it is." And then Sora took a step forward.

"Rox, I don't think you should." Roxas looked back at his brother, flinching on the inside at the protective, motherly tone Sora used. He smiled lightly, playfully.

"I'll be fine," he said reassuringly, "I promise I won't get hurt or anything." Sora shook his head in disagreement, but Roxas saw the choice in his eyes.

"If you're going out there, then so I am." Roxas gave a small smile to his brother, filled with a silent thank you, and turned to go out the back door. He heard everyone's footsteps shuffling behind him, and he slipped on his shoes, opening the door.

It was nearly dark outside, the sun had already gone over the horizon, but the light had not totally gone from the sky yet. Roxas stepped quietly onto the deck, looking around the yard. Nothing was out of the ordinary. The only thing that had caught his attention was the fact the wind had kicked up a notch making the swings on their old play set move.

Roxas heard the others step behind him and someone shut the door. He took a deep breath to steady himself. Maybe it was just his nerves but something felt different. The air held some sort of tension that he could just feel brush against his skin. His feet began to move, and soon enough he was down the steps and into the yard by a couple feet. Roxas looked around the yard, blue eyes taking in everything.

He turned back to the house and saw that everyone was still standing on the deck, no one had dared enter the grass. Sora was frowning, he could feel it too. Something was wrong.

The wind had stopped blowing.

What sounded like a building imploding, a blinding flash of light exploded behind Roxas, making the other gasp and cover their eyes until the light dissipated enough that they could see. Roxas turned around when their mouths dropped open, and so did his.

As what could be described only as a black hole with smoke swirling around it and muted flashes occurring in the center of it was about ten feet from Roxas. He was lost in the beauty of it. It seemed so surreal, he blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. That's when the noise started.

At first it sounded like a hair dryer being turned on, but it began getting louder and louder, and the hole seemed to grow and shine more brightly as it went on. Then a high-pitched squeal sounded all around, making Roxas flinch and a few of the boys cover their ears in hopes of blocking out the noise.

"Roxas!" Sora yelled, tone slightly frantic, "Get away from it! Come over here!" but Roxas didn't move an inch. Sora growled and pushed through the boys, starting down the steps when Riku grabbed his wrist. He glared at the boy and turned back to Roxas, tugging against Riku's hold on him.

"Roxas!" he yelled again, straining against Riku's hold as hard as he could, "Roxas, please! Come here!" His tone he reached out his other arm, attempting to grab a hold of Roxas, but he was a few feet too short. Roxas turned to look at him and it nearly broke his heart.

Roxas was smiling, a truly happy smile. His eyes were filled with delight. Sora should have known better. He knew that his twin always wanted to see something like this, to experience it. But he didn't want to lose his brother.

"Please Roxas!" Sora cried, a tear seeping down his cheek while he tugged franticly at Riku, "Please don't leave me!" Everyone else got the message then. They began to yell at Roxas to come back, not to leave, and not to do whatever he was thinking. But it was all too late, Roxas had already made up his mind when he had stepped outside.

"Riku?" He called, looking the teen directly in the eye.

"Yeah?" Riku yelled back, the noise was waning, and the hole seemed to be closing.

"Take care of Sora for me!" Roxas smiled and waved at his brother and his friends. They all chorused yells of different pitches, forms of protest, and they surged forward as Roxas turned and ran at the hole.

"Bye guys!" he called, voice filled with delight. He dove into the hole, disappearing from sight instantly. The hole itself gave an enormous flash of light and disappeared. Everyone was confused and stunned. The only sounds heard were of Sora crying and a car alarm going off down the street.

Everything felt like it was squeezing in on him. His head felt like it was going to explode and there would be brain everywhere. His leg gave a painful twinge and his heartbeat raced beyond anything he'd ever experienced. He couldn't tell whether his eyes were open or not, everything was black.

'_Am I going to die?' _Roxas wondered, '_Is this the end of me?'_

Apparently it wasn't, because he felt himself slam into wet pavement, feeling like something had definitely broken. He groaned while his head throbbed and his vision began swimming. He felt perfectly content to lie there until he felt at least well enough to sit up, and that is exactly what he did.

Roxas listened to his body, feeling the pain and identifying where he hurt the most. His leg was throbbing madly so he figured he'd hurt that the worst. Everything else was just a dull ache that honestly didn't hurt all that badly.

He groaned again as he tried to push himself up off the ground. His leg immediately sent a wave of pain to his mind and he doubled up and fell onto his side. Roxas felt like he was going to be sick. So he lay on his side, gasping for air and trying to block out the pain.

It took a good ten minutes for most of the pain to pass before Roxas tried to move again. He rolled on his back slowly, fighting against the urge to move his legs, and pushed his upper body into a sitting position. His stomach lurched, the bile rising in his throat with dangerous speed. Roxas swallowed it hastily, not wanting to heave ho. It took a couple moments for his stomach to calm down, and that was when he noticed the blood.

His left pant leg was soaked with blood. Not a little bit either. The entire leg beneath his knee was completely dark red. There was a rip in his pants and Roxas could only imagine the damage that had happened. He winced as his leg gave a nasty twinge and began to look over his surroundings in hopes of taking his mind of the pain.

To say Roxas was startled wouldn't have even covered it. He was sitting in the middle of what seemed to be a road. It seemed to be a road because there were buildings all around him, neon signs jutting off the sides of them lighting where he was, and everywhere else for that matter. The creepy thing was that there were no cars, no people, not nothing. Everything was empty and silent. The windows in the buildings were dark, the alley's between the buildings completely black.

Roxas was scared, of course, but something inside him was at ease. Something was able to find peace in such a foreign place. But this wasn't the time. He had to find out where he was and what was going to happen to him. Roxas sighed and looked up and down the road he was on. It wasn't a very long road. To his left the road turned to the right, and he wasn't sure what was that way, then to his right the road seemed to open up, but he wasn't exactly sure because he couldn't see that much in his position.

Roxas yawned and turned his head to the sky. There where no stars that he could see, just blackened clouds floating over. Hopefully it wasn't going to…

Lightning cracked across the sky and thunder boomed.

"Shit."

The sky opened up and rain began pouring down on him. Roxas growled and began pulling himself across the road to get under a small canopy jutting out from, what he could only guess to be a hotel of some sort. He cursed again when he moved his leg too much and the pain sliced through him like a knife.

So far this wasn't turning out to be very exciting. This was painful and scary and something that he didn't want to deal with. He wanted to go home and be dry and warm, comfy in his bed and not have his leg cut open and bleeding all over the place. It surprised him a little to find how fast he'd changed his mind of 'his' big adventure, now all he wanted were his friends and family.

He finally managed to pull himself all the way across the road, and as soon as he was close enough he rested heavily against the doors. Roxas turned his head to look through the glass. It looked like a fancy hotel lobby, not too exquisite but not too bland either. There were lights on, but again, no people inside.

Roxas felt immensely tired. He yawned again and looked down at his leg. It felt like the bleeding had stopped and a semi-numb feeling had taken over. He tapped himself lightly in the face to wake himself up a little, and then reached down to pull his pant leg up so be could look at his wound.

He almost regretted doing so.

There was a deep 5-inch long gash in his leg, along the outer side of his calf muscle. It had stopped bleeding, and Roxas could almost see his muscles split apart. He thought it was strange though. It was a clean cut, not like it was literally clean, but it wasn't jagged and uneven. It looked like someone had taken a knife and cut him open.

The blond groaned again. This wasn't going to be an easy recovery. Especially in a place he'd never been, where would he get medical attention? Sighing again, he pushed his pant leg back down and inspected the tear in his pants. After looking at it for a minute, he tore it off. He moved it over that gash and tied it as best he could around it. Better to have something on it than nothing at all.

Roxas tested his leg out. He moved his foot a couple times, nothing but a pulling sensation came from the cut. Next, he tried to stand up and put weight on it, and he got the same sensation. He smirked somewhat and looked at his surroundings again.

'_Have to begin somewhere, right?'_

To his left was the open road, and that seemed to be ultimately the best choice. Stepping carefully with his hurt leg, he hobbled slowly down the sidewalk. He kept switching his gaze between where he was walking and his new surroundings. Something seemed out of place with wherever he was now, and it wasn't just the fact there were no people to be found.

There was the creeping that he was being followed, but surely he would have heard something if someone was following him… right?

He stopped hobbling and he could hear something shuffle behind him. Roxas started freaking out… on the inside. His brain was screaming at him to run, but his muscles refused to move an inch. He felt like he'd become a statue just waiting for his demise. There was another shuffle behind him and he gasped slightly.

Roxas turned his head ever so slowly to look over his shoulder behind him. And… there was nothing there. Nothing at all, except for a shadow moving on the ground that didn't belong to himself…

'_Wait. What?'_

He turned back and watched circular shaped shadow that was almost… _crawling_ along the ground.

_'Maybe I'm just hallucinating. Yeah, that's right. My eyes are just playing tricks on me 'cause there is _no_ way a shadow could... oh fuck.'_

The thing that was moving along the ground stopped a few feet in front of Roxas. He turned to face it, and his jaw dropped. It began rising from the concrete, from 2D to 3D. It looked alien, unfamiliar with large, glowing yellow eyes, pure black body and antennas on the top of its head twisted into awkward spirals at the end. Its hands were more like small claws grasping at the air. When it finished it ascent, it stood there around a foot and a half high, or maybe it was two, continuously twitching back onto one leg and then back onto the other.

To Roxas, it almost looked like a dog... Albeit a very strange and ugly dog.

It looked at him, watched him, almost like it was trying to figure something out. Roxas stuck out a hand towards it cautiously. His fingers trembled as he got closer, and the creature watched the hand get closer until it stopped about a foot from it. The creature lunged forward at his hand, claws grasping at the open air where a second ago Roxas' arm had been.

"Holy fuck!!" Roxas yelled, holding his arms to his chest and tripping backwards. Landing ungracefully with a thud and a groan on the ground, the creature crouched like it was going to attack again. His brain flashed red as it took another dangerous step closer to him.

"Shit! Get away from me!! Leave me _ALONE_!" His voice was drenched with fear, eyes wide and frantic. He watched as it lunged at him again, time seemed to slow down as it became airborne, coming for him. Roxas barely dodged the creatures' attack a second time, hardly having the time to twist his body out of the way. Roxas landed on his knees, hands planted onto the cement, and he turned to look at the thing. His breath came faster as the creature turned its head slowly towards him. It seemed angry. Very angry. And very pissed off. But Roxas already had a plan in mind.

'_Run!' _

Using most of his strength he pushed himself up and onto his right leg quickly. Knowing he didn't have much time for the creature to attack again, Roxas began limping as fast as he could. His leg was killing him, and it felt like it was going to fall off in the process. But he kept going anyways, he didn't know what that thing would do to him, but he knew it wasn't going to be friendly.

He made it to the mouth of the road, where it opened up to an immense area of pavement, in front of a gigantic skyscraper jutting into the sky. Roxas kept moving, looking back and forth between the building and the creature that was gaining on him. He didn't want to be caught by that thing, he couldn't, he wanted to keep living with the least amount of damage possible.

But Roxas was running out of time and energy, he didn't even know if he could make it to the stairs of the building. That was when he tripped and fell onto the ground, barely having the energy to even look behind at the thing following him. It launched itself in the air one final time.

'_This is really not fair,' _Roxas thought.

"No you don't!"

There was a sudden flash of fire, and some weird pointy metal object sliced through the creature. He watched as it puffed into thin wisps of smoke and faded away. Roxas could barely keep his eyes open any longer, though his brain was begging him not to collapse, there could still have been danger...

"Kid, what d'you- He-hey! Kid!!" The voice pitched, worry or something akin to it overtaking the person's tone. But Roxas couldn't keep watch any longer. He had pushed his body to its limits, and now it was getting back what it was owed. Everything turned into a dull static, like a crappy radio station that you always get poor reception on. Sometimes bits and pieces came in clear, but the rest was just buzzing.

"This is… krshhhhhh… I better… krshhhhhh… away from here… krshhhhhh… Damn it kid… Pretty light… krshhhhhh… have no brain, hah…"

And then everything shut off.

Roxas woke up again, with no idea how long he had been out, in the darkness. It looked like he was alone, for now at least. He went to turn his head and it felt like he was trying to move a brick wall. Roxas winced and turned his head back towards the ceiling. Doing that, thankfully, didn't take any effort, because he felt completely drained. Whatever happened to him... hopefully things weren't going to stay as bad as they were.

His eyes roamed over the parts of the ceiling he could see. The edges of a fan could barely be seen in the black, and the ceiling was smooth and blank. Nothing interesting about it. Plain. Same old, same old. The fan was pretty nondescript from what he could tell. Rounded at the tips, tilted to catch air like all fans were designed to. He couldn't tell the color of the room he was in though; it could've been pink for all he knew. The window to his left wasn't much help, not that he could look through it anyways. It was barely letting in any light; it wouldn't have given him a good view of his surroundings, or any idea of where he was if it was dark out... Not that he'd know where he was anyways.

_Tump._

The blonds breath froze in the middle of his throat, eyes widening in shock. There were a couple more noises coming from rooms away, as though someone was moving boxes around, and then the noises quit as suddenly as they had started. _'DANGER!'_ his mind screamed at him, _'DANGER!!'_ But there was nothing he could do about that. His body felt like bags of cement, heavy and immobile, as though his limbs were nothing more than rubber.

_Tump, tump, tump, tump._

These sounds were different from the ones before. It sounded like someone was walking down a hallway. With a couple of those sounds came the creaking of wood. So Roxas guessed, and hoped to god he was wrong, that someone was coming to where he was. His heart starting beating faster, the breaths he took turned into small gasps of fear. What was going to happen _now_?

_'No, no!' _he thought, _'I have to pretend like I'm still asleep, and maybe it'll just leave me alone...'_

So Roxas steadied his breathing and heartbeat, closing his eyes lightly like he was still asleep. He had used this trick before to get a couple more hours of sleep whenever his mom would come into his room. Always worked like a charm.

_Tump._

The last step taken was right outside his room, he could tell. Roxas listened to the doorknob as it turned, though the door was silent in opening, no creaky hinges to give it away. The next steps were quieter, and approaching the bed before they stopped. It turned deathly silent... Roxas tried hard to ignore the urge to scream when a weight pressed down on the right edge of the mattress, springs groaning in protest.

"I know you're awake," a voice said, surely a male tone. It was the same he heard earlier, amusement yet concern lining it. Roxas almost opened his eyes, but thought better of it.

"All right then, do what you want." He could almost hear the laugh it contained, "I have to leave for a while, and I'm not exactly sure how long I'll be gone..." It, he, hesitated. "You're free to look around if you 'wake up' before I'm back," air quotes, sarcasm, he could hear material move against material, "Just don't leave this place." The voice turned stern, ordering... afraid.

Then they chuckled.

"I guess I really shouldn't expect an answer," light and friendly, "Take care kid." Concern, but light, like a friend would warn another of a snake or something too close to them. The weight disappeared from the bed, but Roxas couldn't hear any footsteps taking it away from him. He cracked an eye open. The voice, or more importantly the owner of the voice, was gone. He opened his eyes the rest of the way, slowly taking in whatever he could. The door to the room was open, light was falling in from... downstairs? He couldn't be sure.

Roxas grit his teeth, and used his arms to push himself into a sitting position. A violent hiss ripped its way through his mouth, tears stinging his eyes. He took deep breaths, the pain rippled its way through his limbs continually, over and over. It felt like someone was pricking him with pins all over, but after a couple minutes the pain started fading, gradually. First his arms, his neck next, followed by his chest, waist, fading down his legs. Roxas' left leg hurt still, but not as badly as it had earlier. Not to mention his head was throbbing, almost like someone had hit him with a frying pan while he slept. He knew what that felt like, he learned fast to never scare Sora in the kitchen again. Too many dangerous instruments.

Blinking, he looked over his surroundings again. He could make out the bed underneath him, which was a queen size if he had to guess, a pale side table to his right was piled with bandages, and everything in the room was white. Now that he was sitting up, he could see out the window. In the distance the tall skyscraper that he had been at the base of when that thing... Roxas shivered, when that thing had attacked him. That was also where he'd been when he'd passed out, when whoever the voice belonged to, helped him. Saved him.

The blond turned away from the window, focusing his attention on moving. He was also curious as to why his leg wasn't hurting as much as he'd expected it to. Reaching a pale hand out he grabbed the sheet covering him and pulled it away. Roxas frowned, and his eyes widened in panic and confusion at the same time. He no longer had on his khaki's from earlier, though they were most likely in as much of a bad shape as himself. Instead he had on soft blue pants, something akin pajama pants. His shirt was also different. White and much to big for him, he was sure that he could've fit two of himself inside it.

It took a bit of effort to reach the bottom hem of his left pant leg, but he grasped it nimbly and pulled until it reached his kneecap. He was surprised this time, though it was a grateful sort of surprise. Where his gash had been, now was wrapped up tightly in bandages, there wasn't much of a chance that they were going to come off easily. And he was immensely thankful that whoever it was had found him, was at least decent enough to do this for him...

Though he wasn't sure he was completely comfortable with the fact that someone had to have undressed him.

He suspiciously checked his boxers. They were still the same as he had put on this morning. That was comforting... sort of.

Roxas just sat there on the bed for a little while, just taking in things, moving his legs and arms every now and again, easing the pain out. It seemed like an hour or so had passed since his last and only visitor left. His eyes kept wandering to the open door, and to the hallway he assumed was there, from where he sat. Would he be able to get down out of here, without accidentally killing himself? There were other ways to get down a hallways in means other than just walking. Like crawling, sliding on his butt, grasping the edges of doorways and pulling himself towards them. None of them were very pleasing, but they all seemed pretty harmless... If dying was on his list of things to do, then he could climb out the window...

Definitely not happening.

Moving his right leg first, Roxas swung it over the side of the bed, followed slowly by his left. He made sure to be extra careful with it, seeing as it was hurt more than any other part of his body. It began throbbing as he bent his knee as his foot touched the floor, but it was manageable, and he was grateful for that. Using his arms to balance himself, he stood. A little wobbly, but it was good enough for him.

Yet he stopped, standing frozen in front of the bed. Did he really want to risk furthering his injury? And if he did fall, pessimism came crashing through, there wasn't going to be anyone there to catch him. It wasn't like he was surrounded by loved ones, he was alone. In how much of the sense he couldn't be sure. That voice, that person, they'd come back eventually. _Right?_ They said they would...

And he was... _sad_.

Roxas was a little confused. Why would he be sad? Of all things to feel, sadness? It was pretty normal for him to be alone. He had his friends and everything, but he was the one furthest from the group, or so he put himself as such. He'd do anything in a heartbeat for any one of them, even if they didn't like him. His own safety and health were his last priorities.

"_'Impossibly selfless'_," His mom would call him. He never let the extent of his selflessness be exposed to her though. His misery and loneliness were his own, there was no way he'd let anyone share a part of that. It was something he felt like he had almost earned, meant to bear the pain for everyone else. Roxas had never dated anyone; he'd let down countless numbers of girls and guys alike. It wasn't that he didn't _like_ them... He just thought they deserved so much better than himself. An impossibly selfless, mature, guilt ridden boy. Teen. Man. It didn't matter. His misery was better served alone.

He felt the tears fall down his face. And he didn't feel like anything. Just standing there, crying, not bothering to wipe away the tears that were now rolling freely down his face. Staring at the ground, listening to his heartbeat and breath spiral faster. He hated showing weakness; he hated being even a little weak. Roxas was caught up in thinking and didn't hear the footsteps until they were loud and getting closer quickly.

Panicking, he thought of what he could do. Either a) lie back down or b) face the mystery. Neither seemed like very appealing options, but he didn't have much of a choice. It wasn't like he was able to hide, or he probably would have. Roxas stiffened as he saw the shadow in the doorway and clenched his eyes shut, ignoring the warning screaming in his head. The steps paused, and an amused chuckle echoed in the distance between him and the voice.

"Awww," the man mocked playfully, "You got out of bed to see me, so sweet." He could almost hear the grin that was no doubt forming on the person's face. Roxas bit his lip, afraid and refusing to answer the mocking voice, panic began stiffening him like steel. The person walked a few steps to stand right in front of him. The blond could almost feel the heat rolling off the person. A finger swept gently beneath his eye, making Roxas completely stop breathing. It felt like the person was wearing gloves, because skin wasn't what he felt.

"You were crying?" Shock, concern. "I wonder why..." Arms, slowly as though they weren't trying to scare him, wrapped around Roxas' shoulders, pulling him close into the person's own body. A smokey scent washed filled his nose, his heart taking off like a bullet. The blond couldn't help but lean into the warmth. He needed comfort and this was nice, strangely familiar, but very nice. Roxas felt small in the strangers grip, he could tell his head came to the person's chest because he could hear the steady beating of their heart. He relaxed easily, opening his closed eyes, and idly placed his arms around the person's waist. He reveled in the complacent humming he received.

"The names Axel, A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" The voice, Axel, spoke softly. Tenderly. Roxas felt the vibration from Axel's chest. He smiled and leaned lightly in the warmth that was _Axel_.

"Roxas," he muttered, drawing a steadying breath, "My name is Roxas." He felt the silent chuckle come from the red head. Axel unwrapped his arms from Roxas' shoulders, the blond followed suit, he felt somewhat embarrassed for being so close to _Axel_. A black-gloved hand was moved toward the small space between them now.

"Hello _Roxas_," Axel said lightly, tasting how the teens name felt on his lips. It was surprisingly pleasant, new and warm. He smiled down at the blond. "Nice to meet you." The look he received made him catch his breath, it danced across Roxas' eyes, hopeful and adorable, the blush that swept across his cheeks was even more innocent. He felt the smile across his own face growing; it was like seeing an old friend he hadn't conversed with in years. Too many years.

And Roxas felt like he was in heaven. His soul felt elated at this _stranger _simply saying his name, and smiling at him. Axel's voice, he noted, sounded like deep bells. His hair, wild and red, was attractive. It looked liked nothing he'd seen before. He mentally shivered. Oh gods, it felt like his heart was being squeezed and pulled towards the man. Cheesy, but that's what it felt like to him. Some strange pull towards someone he'd never met, before today, and it already felt like he'd known him his whole life. He would've found it immensely strange to know that Axel felt the same.

He could've just _drowned_ in all the cheesiness the moment had.

Axel reached down to Roxas' face, running his hand through the blond locks, finding them to be surprisingly soft. Roxas closed his eyes at the contact, unconsciously leaning into the touch. Axel smiled and repeated the gesture, enjoying the tiny murmurs rolling over Roxas' pink lips. His vibrant green eyes roamed greedily over the face he held close to him. The skin was pale, but not too pale, and it was flawless. No abrasions or blemishes, soft and smooth. Eyebrows arching perfectly over two closed eyes, eyelashes thick and complimenting.

Axel must've done something right to stumble across Roxas. And he was glad he came into play when he did. Had he been a few seconds later, Roxas... Well, there wouldn't have been anything left of him. Axel grimaced. That would've been the worst fate for someone like this, someone who looked so vulnerable. It was like an angel being sent smack dab in the middle of hell. Because there was nothing as perfect, in Axel's eyes, like Roxas. All the different worlds he had traveled to, all the faces he had seen, none were quite like this one. None had radiated innocence and purity like Roxas.

None had he felt so propelled to save. To attach himself to. To care for.

Even like this, not even knowing anything about this Roxas, just seeing his face, feeling the trust radiating from the blond... It gave just reason for Axel to be there. Like he had been created just for Roxas. The burning in his chest intensified. It wasn't uncomfortable, it was fierce though, very powerful and compelling. The strings of his life he knew before, every little memory, every little feeling, snipping away. Reattaching themselves to the light Roxas radiated. It was the strangest feeling he had ever experienced. Well, he had never really felt anything even remotely close to this before. It made him a little bit lightheaded, this feeling, but he kept his balance.

Roxas opened his eyes at that very moment, and at seeing Axel watching him so intensely, so protectively... A blush broke across his cheeks unwillingly from the gaze the redhead was giving him, he could feel it to, aware that his body was betraying him, and he blushed even harder. Axel's eyes seemed to sparkle and his hands, none too secretly, wrapped themselves tight around the blonds waist, pulling him flush against his body. It felt like the fire had been turned up by 1,000 degrees. Roxas settled his hands on Axel's chest, quite unsure where to put them, and felt the frantic pounding of his heart against Axel's. He smiled a little.

Axel tilted his face down to Roxas' and made their foreheads touch. He watched as Roxas's blue eyes bore into his own, like he was trying to see the depth of his soul, of every word he had spoken. They were more vibrant blue than any ocean, they were deeper and wider than any aperture. It felt like he could fall into the blue depths and never resurface. And he then watched as the blonds eyes became hesitant, the skin above his nose pinched in a little bit. Axel almost asked aloud what was wrong but stopped himself as he felt Roxas lift a hand from his chest, reaching to touch his face. He almost chuckled, and kept his gaze just as intense. Though when Roxas touched his face it felt like ice at first, freezing and cold yet it wasn't uncomfortable. Then he could feel the charge between them, like something electric, something magnetic. Pulling them together, holding them there. The urge to hold the blond was undeniable. He could spend a decade just holding Roxas in his arms, learning and loving the sensation of it.

It just felt right.

But this _wasn't_ right. He wasn't even supposed to be able to _"feel"_any emotions, just pretending as though he felt them. But everything he was told before added up to nothing in the sight of Roxas, the feel of what was running through him. Nothing had ever felt so _real_ before, so there was no doubt that it _had _to be real. The pounding of his heart had surprised him, he couldn't remember a time he had really felt it. The love and lust running through his veins and every fiber of his being, something he was completely unaware of, there was no way he could've thought anything would be so powerful.

It just _had_ to be real.

Roxas rested his hand at the hollow of Axel's neck, fingers tracing the shape of the outline his bones made, but his eyes never for a second left Axel's. Roxas felt a rumble vibrate his throat, and before he knew it there was a growl sliding out of Axel's lips. It wasn't a playful growl, it was something that held real anger. Axel wasn't looking at the blond anymore though. His eyes were glued to the window starting, glaring, at something on the outside. Roxas felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. The redhead's eyes narrowed, and he felt himself being pulled closer into Axel, protectively. Suddenly Axel stuck his hand out, as though to point at someone, and the lights from the hallway went out.

They stood there in the darkness for a couple moments, neither one relaxing. Axel kept pulling Roxas closer, if that was possible, nearly silent curses filtering off his lips into the air. And his eyes never left the window. Roxas was too afraid to ask what was going on, he simply trusted that Axel would protect him. His fists gripped the cloak that Axel was wearing, it felt leathery but it was very warm, and buried his head into Axel's chest. The redhead took a note of it, not letting himself be distracted from the figures that were ghosting past the window.

Of anywhere, Axel thought to himself, where Roxas could've ended up, he had to appear here. In The World That Never Was. Anywhere else, _anywhere_, would've have been safer by a hundredfold. But he landed in the single deadliest place for himself. Axel thought about taking him elsewhere, some place that would be safer for the blond. Radiant Garden would've been a good place, but they were currently under siege from the Heartless, so that was out. Olympus had Hades, Port Royal was Luxord's current territory, Beast's Castle was in Xaldin's control, Halloween Town was home to Oogie Boogie, Agrabah held Jafar, and the Pride Lands were also under siege from the Heartless. Axel didn't want something too bizarre, like Atlantica or The Land of Dragons, for Roxas. And that held only one place left.

Twilight Town.

It was much safer than any place else, the people and community were friendly; people that Axel thought Roxas would be able to get along with. But that wasn't the source of his indecision.

The main question was if he wanted to leave Roxas by himself for long periods of time, with the inability to check on the blond if he was in danger. Axel wouldn't know if Roxas would be hurt or attacked. Could he? And that was a quick and definite 'no'. If it was anyone else, anyone less _vulnerable_ than Roxas was, he'd be able to. But any decision that put Roxas in danger, Axel wasn't willing to take. But the choice of staying where they were was more dangerous than anything else.

The last shadow slid past the window, their window, without so much as a glance in their direction. But the tension wasn't gone. And it wasn't going to leave until Axel knew that Roxas was safe, where ever he was.

Roxas watched the redhead's face as he made these silent decisions, watching the concern roam in his eyes, and the conflict in them as well. The blond was caught in a silent awe of the other. His green eyes were luminescent, beyond magnificent, and his skin was as pale as his own. The tattoos under his eyes were amusing, but currently they gave Axel's face a more critical look than one that was playful. That may have been in part to the deep frown that seemed etched onto Axel's face.

Somehow it didn't bother him how attached he felt to Axel. It just seemed normal, right. It didn't bother him at how possessively Axel had his arms wrapped around his waist, it was so comforting. It didn't bother him at the proximity of their bodies, it didn't bother him that he wanted to take his hand and turn Axel's frown into a smile. It didn't bother him that Axel was a guy. It didn't bother him. He felt his chest warm at the thought of Axel smiling back at him. But there were things that did bother him. Such as he was somewhere foreign, dark and dangerous, even with Axel so close to him. It bothered him that he knew he was in danger. He wasn't sure why he was the one who was attacked, he didn't know, and that really bothered him.

It scared him.

He tucked his face back into Axel's chest, fear creeping upon him again. Axel squeezed him back in response, placing an arm around Roxas's shoulders, running a hand through his blond hair. He decided then that it was best for Roxas not to be on this world any longer. Twilight Town would be safer, that he was sure of. And he slowly had an idea forming in his mind of how he could make sure that Roxas was safe, even when he wasn't with him. All he needed to do on his part was some persuasion and Roxas to trust him, which he felt that Roxas would trust his judgement.

"Roxas?" The blond looked up to Axel's face, the redhead's hand still stroking through his hair. Axel's face was careful and questioning.

"Yes?"

"Where you are right now, even with me, you aren't safe. There are things here that I can't control, that place you at a constant threat." Roxas nodded, eyes wide. He understood _that _before he was even sure of what it had entitled. Axel continued, "I want to take you someplace that you can be secure and safe, but I need you to trust me, all right?" Though Axel was probably stronger than Roxas, physically, he would never make Roxas do something against his will. He didn't want to push Roxas, he just wanted what was best for the blond, and he would let the blond make the choice.

"Of course I trust you," Roxas replied, a small smile forming on his lips, "Whatever you think is best." Axel had to smile at the blond and when he did he could feel the smallers heartbeat start to race, he laughed. Roxas was elated to hear the sound, it was so carefree.

"You're something else, you know? Really something else," Axel commented, the smile remained. Roxas nodded.

"I know." And Axel laughed again. Roxas heard the sound, like deep chiming bells, watched the way Axel's face stretched as he laughed, the way that it warmed his eyes. Axel caught him staring and winked, suddenly planting a kiss on the blonds forehead. He watched as Roxas flushed deep red again, his eyes widen, and his lips popped open in surprise. Innocence, Axel reminded himself, the purest he would ever find. He leaned his head forward and touched his forehead with his angels. Roxas never broke eye contact and was mesmerized by Axel, he couldn't find anything to say as Axel held him so close... Maybe it was better that way, Axel was full of questions besides.

"Is it strange that I feel like I've already known you?" Axel's eyes were ever questioning, and Roxas felt himself answering before he realized it.

"No, I feel the same way." Roxas wondered about continuing, so he decided to anyways. "Why do you think that is?"

"I honestly have no idea," Axel shook his head against Roxas, "Maybe it's just fate." Fate that Roxas had managed to land in the worst place possible. But he wasn't about to say that, so he decided to take the questions in a different route. "Have you ever felt like this?" Roxas shook his head.

"Never, not before now," Roxas commented, '_Love and lust barely even existed for me before now.'_ But he wasn't about to say that, it would've made him sound awkward. Axel listened and watched the play of emotions in Roxas' eyes as he spoke. It gave him joy to no end to know that Roxas felt the same way, though he was sure it wasn't the same crushing emotions that Axel was feeling.

This definitely wasn't something that Axel was used to. He was used to being void of feeling all the time, believing that he wasn't supposed to feel anything, never questioning anything. But after this.... Everything he knew came into question. Everything that he was told before, that he was made to believe, it was all disproved in the presence of Roxas. Roxas' life was enough reason for the creation of himself. If anyone needed to be protected, it was Roxas.

* * *

**A/N:** AWESOME-SAUCE! This has just been kind of sitting here in my Document Manager, and I don't know when I'm going to be finished with Hot In Here, and I've been meaning to post this for AGESSS... So here it is xD;; I've been completely undecided in whether or not I'm going to give this another chapter. I mean, from what I've written, I really love this! Like, SRSLY. And I really want to introduce the whole (most of, anyways) Orgy XIII deal and bad guys and Demyx. Because Dem is just... Special.

Like Tuesday Left-over Meatloaf kind of special. :D

So I don't know. Leave your idea, opinion, cookies, in a review C:

_so there's this kinda of key, that you fight with, a keyblade... (read&review&thanks),  
Peachi Bunni_


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